Portable house having detachable running gear



Aug. 31, 1954 c. w. KINSMAN PORTABLE HOUSE HAVING DETACHABLE RUNNING GEAR Filed Sept. 26, 1950 III/III III/I CLARENCE WlLLiAM KINSMAN INVENTOR. BY W M ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 31, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PORTABLE HOUSE HAVING DETACHABLE RUNNING GEAR 4 Claims.

This invention relates to portable houses and an object of this invention is to provide a temporarily portable house having a sectionally hinged roof and mountable wheels and axles, the house being adapted to be constructed at an assembly point and to be moved to a building site for temporary or permanent location upon a foundation.

An object of this invention is to provide a small sized dwelling having a sectionally hinged roof and mountable front and rear wheels and axles, the dwelling being adapted to be readily transported or moved along the usual roadway for a permanent or temporary location on a building site.

In order to carry out the objects of this inven tion, I have designed a portable house which is fully adapted to meet quickly and economically the present housin shortage, insofar as that shortage can be met for small sized families. The portable house disclosed herewith is designed for mass production at a central manufacturing plant and for towing transport of the house over the standard types of roads and highways usually found in settled areas for delivery to a building site whereon the house may be quickly set on a temporary or permanent foundation and connected to the usual utilities, such as gas, water, sewers and lights for immediate occupation.

In accordance with the disclosure herewith this invention consists of a metal base carrying-frame upon which the house is constructed with a sectionally hinged roof thereon. The metal base frame serves as both a sill and main floor structure, and as a chassis having demountable or removable rear wheels and axles and a detachable and guidable front wheel assembly, the said front wheel assembly being designed for attachment toa towing truck or tractor for guideable transport along a road or highway.

This application discloses the invention in a form which is an improvement on my patent application for Portable House, Serial No. 756,231, filed June 21, 1947, now Patent No. 2,527,012.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention will be hereinafter more particularly described, and the combination and arrangement of parts will be shown in the accompanying drawings and pointed out in the claims which form part of this specification.

Reference will now be had to the drawings, wherein like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of the portable house of my invention.

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 2-2 in Figure 1.

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the numeral Ill indicates a temporarily portable house comprising a metal load-carrying base frame H and a finished main fioor 12 secured thereto.

Upright end walls l3, l3 and side walls M are suitably fixed to the metal load-carrying frame ll to form a rigid structure. The main floor I2 and the base frame H are covered by the walls 53,13 and M.

For the purpose of this invention, I may make the house ill of two floors constructed in a manner so as to provide an integral fioor-and-a-half rigid wall structure l5 and an upper-half wall and roof structure It which is foldable downwardly preparatory for purposes of transit.

It will be noted that hinges ll secure the upper portions of the rigid end walls [3 to gable walls 18. The hinges I"! permit the gable walls 18 to swing inwardly of the house. Further hinges l9 secure the roof sections 20, 29 and 20 to the upper portions of the side walls M to permit the roof sections to swing inwardly of the house.

The floor 12 has temporary through openings 22 at opposite side walls. In practice, axles 23 each of one-half the interior width of the house, are laid over the floor l2 in abutting relation and in alinement. I provide stiffening and clamping members 24 on opposite sides and around the axles and suitably secure the clamping members so as to rigidly brace the said members in unitary relation. Main wheels 25 are rotatably mounted on the axles 23 to permit the house to be transported on a roadway.

The axles 23 are in transverse alinement with the length of the building and are positioned closely above the finished main floor to bring the said floor close to the roadway.

I provide a forked draw bar assembly 2'! comprising two inclined towing bars 28 passing through openings 29 in the lower portion of the end wall l3. The inner ends of the bars 23 are fastened to the opposite side walls M by bolts 30 passing through lug plates 3| which are integrally secured to the metal load-carrying base frame II. The draw bar assembly 21 extends outwardly of the end wall I3 and is fixed to a guidable towing wheel assembly 32 by bolts 33. The guidable towing wheel assembly 32 comprises a triangular frame 34 through which the bolts 33 pass. The assembly 32 also comprises a supporting wheel 35.

It is to be noted that the towin wheel assembly or wheel supported towing apparatus 32 comprises a downwardly extending portion 36 having a horizontal arm 31 upon which the front end of the house is supported and secured thereto by bolts 38. Instead of the arm 31 I may secure the portion 36 to the house by direct bolting at its front face. The invention thus provides three points of towing attachment to the house 30, 30 and 38.

It is to be noted that lug plates 40 are integrally secured to the metal load-carrying base frame H. The lug plates 40 have apertures 41 which receive the axles 23. The lug plates 40 transmit the load of the house II] to the wheels 25.

It is also to be noted that while I have shown all the roof sections hinged to the side walls I4, that some of the sections may not be hinged but may be placed on the fioor of the house during transit.

In the preferred practice, the main wheels 25 and the front wheels 35 have defiatable tires to permit temporary deflation when passing under low headway clearances and serve to lower the house to the foundation at the site.

It is to be noted that roller casters 45 are provided below the base frame ll during transit to support the house when the tires are deflated; also to prevent the base frame from contacting the roadway.

In accordance with the patent statutes I have described and illustrated the preferred embodiment of my invention, but it will be understood that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A portable house comprising in combination, upright walls and a fioor, a rigid base frame below said floor, said fioor having openings for rear wheels at opposite side walls, a roof structure mounted on said walls, one end wall having two openings, a forked draw bar passing through said openings and extending to the sides of said base frame and being removably secured thereto, said draw bar extending beyond the front wall of said house, a triangular frame fixed to said forked draw bar and having a ground engaging wheel rotatably supported on an axle at a lower elevation, a pair of rotatably mounted rear wheels and axles for separately and demountably securing the wheels to the base frame in transverse alignment over said floor, to bring said floor close to the roadway, said rear wheels passing through said fioor openings into ground engagement.

2. A portable house comprising in combination, upright walls and a main fioor, a rigid base frame below said floor, said floor having openings for rear wheels at opposite side walls, a roof structure mounted on said walls, one of the end walls having two openings, a forked draw bar passing through said end wall openings and extending to the sides of said base frame and being removably secured thereto, said draw bar extending beyond the end wall of said house, a triangular frame fixed to said forked draw bar and having a ground engaging wheel rotatably supported on an axle at a lower elevation, a pair of rotatably mounted rear wheels and axles for separately and demountably securing the wheels to the base frame in transverse alignment, said rear wheels passing through said floor openings into ground engagement, said axles being positioned above said floor, to bring said main floor close to the roadway.

3. In a portable house comprising in combination, upright walls and a main floor, a metal base carrying frame below said floor and covered by said walls, said floor having through openings for rear wheels at opposite side walls, one of the end walls having two openings, a forked draw bar assembly passing through said end wall openings and extending to the sides of said base frame and being removably secured thereto, said draw bar assembly extending beyond the end wall of said house, a triangular frame fixed to said forked draw bar and having a ground engaging wheel rotatably supported on an axle at a lower elevation, pairs of rotatably mounted main wheels and axles for separately and demountably securing the wheels to the base frame in transverse alignment, said axles being positioned closely above said main floor to bring said fioor close to the roadway.

4. In a temporarily portable building having a front wall and two side walls and a main floor, a rigid carrying frame below said floor, said fioor having through openings for rear wheels at said side walls, lug plates secured to said frame and extending above said fioor for securing wheel axles and wheels to said frame, said front wall having through openings, attaching means for securing a towing apparatus to said building, comprising two inclined towing bars in said building and extending to said side walls, said bars having one end respectively removably secured to said side walls, said front wall openings permitting said bars to extend outwardly therethrough and forming towing bar extensions, a triangular frame secured to said towing bar extensions, said triangular frame having a downwardly extending portion terminating in a horizontal arm at the underside of said building, said arm being secured to the lower portion of said building, said house having rollable means with a ground engaging portion positioned substantially below the lower level of said front wall.

References Cited in the file Of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,857,758 Kuester May 10, 1932 1,989,940 McGaughan et al. Feb. 5, 1935 2,124,947 Henderson July 26, 1938 2,142,749 Graves Jan. 3, 1939 2,325,747 Dailey Aug. 3, 1943 2,515,564 Mercer et al. July 18, 1950 2,527,012 Kinsman Oct. 24, 1950 

